I admit that when I started the Read Europe 2024 Challenge, I was pretty sure I’d be able to get to all 50 countries in 1 year. But a couple of additional challenges and dozens of NetGalleys later, it was clear I had bitten off more than I could chew.

I may have made it harder on myself by only counting books as from a country if the author was born in that country. But that did force me to stretch and discover some new authors – something that is always exciting. 

The 10 books I finished:

1. Albania – Free by Lea Ypi
2. Azerbaijan – Stone Dreams by Akram Aylisli
3. Croatia – Cafe Europe Revisited by Slavenka Drakulic
4. Denmark – Babette’s Feast by Isak Denisen
5. Hungary – The Remarkable Mrs. Anderson by Miklos Banffy
6. Ireland – Foster by Claire Keegan
7. Malta – A Death in Malta by Paul Caruana Galizia
8. Poland – The Beautiful Mrs. Seidenman by Andrzej Szczypiorski
9. Ukraine – A Ukrainian Christmas by Yaroslav Hrytsak and Nadiyka Gerbish
10. United Kingdom – The London Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein

These books took me on a journey across Europe, through time, and through 7 genres – Memoir, Literary Fiction, Political Essays, Short Stories, Nonfiction, Historical Fiction, and Mystery. My favorite was probably Foster by Claire Keegan, but there isn’t a single one of them that I wouldn’t recommend. You can find links to all of my reviews on my Read Europe 2024 page.

I will be continuing my journey across Europe in 2025 in hopes of reaching some of those 40 countries I missed in 2024.